Happy 4th birthday, Emmalyn

 

Dear Emmalyn,

 

Happy 4th birthday!

 

Hope that you have enjoyed all the birthday celebrations! You had a pool party put together by Auntie May at Koh Samui, a non-theme turned Frozen themed party at school, shopping of presents and feasting with grandparents! Many had also showered you with presents - toys, books and clothes! (Thank you!)

 

You asked for ear piercing after seeing your cousin, Xara, having pretty earrings on her. In fact, you started asking for it when you saw your school BFF, Angelina, had it on many months back. So, we finally did it on your birthday!

 

It has been an exciting year with lots of happenings, changes and growth for you and our family. I must say you've been adapting and maturing far better than we imagine! Over the year, your personality shines greater. You are smart and full of curiosity, reserved yet sociable, and meek but very cheeky. You usually take some time to warm up to people and new environment. However, once you are warmed up, you get your playful acts all together and hang around with people well.

 

Soon after your turn 3 years old, you stopped using diapers at night and kicked your thumbsucking habit. Then, you turned to smelling your thumb for comfort and picked up nail biting when you are bored or nervous. I showed you bloody photos of bit nails and you were so scared, but you still continue to bite. I'm going to try nail painting. Hopefully, the vain you will kick off this bad habit some day soon!

 

Earlier this year, we moved out of our first home and stayed with grandparents for almost 8 months. You still stick very close to us but you have fun with your grandparents and love to disturb them. You enjoyed reading newspapers with grandma and tickling grandpa when he was about to doze off to sleep.

 

We are thankful that you are still sleeping well at night like before even though we have a different sleeping arrangement. We still aim for bedtime at 9pm but these days we sometimes had to drag pass 9pm a little. You love sleeping with us in the same room. I wonder how could we get you back to your own room after we move. You are still taking afternoon naps although you prefer playing more than sleeping. But, you still need your nap as you tend to become cranky when you skip it.

 

As I've always shared, you aren't the best eater. But, you are slowly getting better. You love noodles, beancurd skin, egg, mushroom and soup. Gummies and ice cream are your favourite! We've been controlling your diet as you tend to cough easily. It was so bad for the first half of this year but it's much more under control now.

 

We also see you through the milestone of becoming a big sister. You love your baby sister and took up the new role quickly. There were a few times you were jealous/upset over Avalyn. The first time was because I pasted your mosquito patch on her without "getting your permission". From what I observed, you understand that we need to take care of Avalyn so you do not fight for attention fiercely. You still ask our time and attention but you are fine to wait most of the time. At this age, you are more protective over your possessions like toys. You said, you are willing to share but she needs to ask for permission. lol. At times, you will get very rough, loud and bossy with Avalyn. It's so funny yet frustrating. You "discipline" her, squeeze her cheeks, hug her like a teddy bear and kiss her with your hair falling all over her face.

 

I guess it helps us a lot that you are able to communicate and understand things well. You share with us your daily happenings, ask about our days and remember things well. You also learnt to pray for the family before bed, so that you get an additional bedtime story. Haha. Over the past year, you learnt to reason and negotiate. At times, you really make a good sense out of it. Other times, we had to spend additional 10 mins to reason with you in order to get things done. As much as we tried to be let you understand how things should work, there are times that you get on our nerves and we had to scold, threaten or even beat you. Daddy and Mummy still have lots to learn in terms of disciplining you.

 

The school is doing a great job at teaching. After much practices, you are getting better at colouring and drawing. You have also started to write alphabets and Chinese characters. Besides continuing to read both English and Chinese books, I hope to spend more time to go through them with you in the coming year. We have another 2+ years to prepare you for Primary school. It's just scary to even think about starting you on more serious learning. Meanwhile, I hope to instill greater interest in learning, curiosity and creativity in you.

 

You are also stronger in physique - able to jump over a distance, walk for a longer period, get up and down the cab with some assistance and run fast. You had your first bad injury at Koh Samui as you sat near the edge of the daybed. The bed was bigger than the frame so it wasn't supported. You fell down and hit your head. You burst into tears but were quickly soothed. You only complained about the pain after a short play and we spotted a blood-stained cut. What a high pain tolerance level you have!

 

You love to head out and this year, we had explored so many places despite having Avalyn with us (and in me) - USS, Goat Farm, Zoo, Bird Park, Lego Land and Koh Samui. You also watched 2 very memorable theatre shows that casted very deep memories in you. I look forward to bringing both of you for more experiences!

 

Besides outings, you love to watch videos, read books, dance around, role-play, dress up, hang out with friends and play with play-doh. You love water play but had kind of lost your water confidence after we stopped your swimming lesson. Hope that you can get it back when we can have more pool time after we move. Your favourite cartoon characters are princesses, frozen and Hello Kitty. Yes, that's very girly of you!

 

 

12 wonderful months flew by quickly, and I'm thankful to see how well you have grown over the past 1 year. I thank God for watching over you and blessing you with so much learning, experiences and growth. For the year ahead, I pray that you will continue to grow and learn to be a sensible, cheerful and faithful girl. I pray for wisdom, strength and patience to upbring you and Avalyn!

 

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This blog is in collaboration with Friso.

Kids learn from experiences whether big or small, good or bad. That's why Friso provides the right nutrition for your child to be strong inside to take on challenges.

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